Epoxy resins are employed in the preparation of casting, molding and coating compositions and the like, the resultant products having desirable properties. However, there is always a need for products having improved properties.
Coatings can be prepared either from waterborne or solvent-borne epoxy resin systems. However, government regulations written to reduce ozone formation encourage paint manufacturers to develop water-borne systems, especially those systems having low volatile organic content (VOC). Tropospheric ozone is formed when solvents vaporized from coating compositions during cure are mixed with nitrogen oxides in the presence of sunlight. Ozone is reported to cause pulmonary irritation on exposure, lower crop yields, retard tree growth, damage ornamental plants and shrubs, increase susceptibility to acid rain and insect damage, damage plastics, dyes and paints and lower visibility by formation of smog.
The present invention provides epoxy resins suitable for the preparation of castings, moldings, coatings and the like having an improvement in one or more of the properties selected from chemical resistance, flexibility and the like. These epoxy resins are suitable in either solvent-borne or water-borne systems or systems employing both solvents and water.